expansion

Here’s how to make the American Alliance of Museums angry: Sell artwork from your museum to cover your debts. After William Holman Hunt’s “Isabella and the Pot of Basil” sold for $4.25 million at Christie’s in London, the AAM publicly revoked the museum’s membership and advised all other AAM members against working with them. In other words, they’ve been blacklisted.

Museums can’t buy a new Louis Vuitton bag every time they want to show off their wealth so instead, they display bling by hiring big-name architects to create new and shiny, glass-filled galleries. LACMA will be joining this popularity game with a planned $650 million expansion by the Pritzker prize-winning architect Peter Zumthor. $450 will be allotted for construction with the remaining $200 million set aside for administrative expenses and contingency.